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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27692891">The Curse of the Iron Fan</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DorkWingsRise/pseuds/DorkWingsRise'>DorkWingsRise</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Realignment [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:48:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,511</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27692891</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DorkWingsRise/pseuds/DorkWingsRise</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathalie's first visitor was not what she had imagined.</p><p>TW: illness, addiction, violence.  This set of chapters is heavier and darker.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir &amp; Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire/Sabrina Raincomprix, Chloé Bourgeois &amp; Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Ondine/Kagami Tsurugi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Realignment [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1814968</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Now all the bonnie birds have wheeled away</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Time does not exist in the sick room.Time suggests linearity, a past that changes to become the present.A past that can be reflected upon and that holds both certainties and questions. </p><p class="p1">This is what I knew.This is what I chose.What if I had done something else instead? </p><p class="p1">A rich world, the past, a world that piles change upon change until it breaks like a wave, depositing the present moment and then sucking that moment back to itself.And time suggests a future, a progression of events, and a narrowing of possible paths.A future that can be anticipated, eagerly awaited, or feared.But in the sick room, there is none of that.Change bends inward upon itself to form closed cycles; or it crumbles to the stillest ash.The air is always too dry; the rooms too cold.The machines hum and ping with the randomness of frog songs in spring.Entropy writ small emerging as a steady pulse writ large.Doctors sweep in and out of the room, asking the same questions, and reading the same chart.“It doesn’t seem to be cancer, but we need more tests to be sure.”The same confident cluelessness.The same grim smile.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>No worries, Doc.It’s just magic gone bad.</em>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Nathalie Sancoeur knew a few things about hospitals. She’d spent her share of days in rooms like this one, holding the hands of patients that looked a lot like she imagined she looked right now.Patients who were very sick.Patients who died.Patients who were her closest friends.They’d all been so young.She remembered how hard it had been to sit in the chair, knowing that the doctors saw no hope.Glorious personalities silenced. Beautiful bodies withered.But sitting is what you did.Even when your friends had fucked up and hurt you to your soul, you had their backs.Even if that amounted to the simple act of sitting, holding a cold hand, bearing witness.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"><em>Who’s here for you?</em> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">She coughed a deep, bone-rattling cough and fell asleep to dream of four teenagers strutting on runways, laughing like they knew a secret that the rest of the world hadn’t quite figured out.</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p3">~</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">Suddenly, Nathalie was awake.She wasn’t really sure why.These were the quiet hours when nurses worked quickly and silently.Nathalie usually registered the fact of the nurse in her room, but she barely touched wakefulness, a dolphin surfacing just enough to breathe.But something was not right.She could tell without opening her eyes that the nurse was lingering near her bed.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I don’t know if you can hear me in there, but you really are pathetic.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"><em>I know that voice from somewhere.</em> Nathalie opened her eyes a fraction.Short dark hair.Flashing eyes.Dangerously pretty even in those godawful nurse’s scrubs.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I looked you up, you know.You actually had it going on once.I think I would have had a good time partying with you and your three friends.I think I would have enjoyed tying you down and making you scream my name.They called you “The Four Seasons,” right?The next super-models.But then, nothing.Spring and Summer overdose a few months apart.Autumn disappears, missing to this day.And you?Did you step in to fill the void?Not you.You stopped modeling, got a business degree and wound up working as a glorified secretary.You didn’t even take the opportunity to own Gabriel, did you?I’d tell you to watch how a real woman works, but I’ve learned that I shouldn’t leave loose ends around.So sad.I’m not sure what it will take to make Gabriel crack, but he will.Even if I have to mix a little something special in his smoothie to stir him up.But I’ll make him so hungry for me that he will lose that famous self-control.And then I’ll own him.Men are easy.Someone should have taught you that.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Nathalie cracked her eyelids open again.Her visitor was fumbling with the IV bag.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I’ve met your little kwami friend.”She picked up a syringe and fumbled with the med port.“I’ll promise you one thing; when I have the power of a God at my disposal, I’ll be strong enough to handle it.I won’t buckle like you did.”She started to spike the bag.“I’d wish you sweet dreams, but there are at least 7 good parties in this syringe, so I don’t think you’ll be dreaming much.You certainly won’t be waking up again.”She fiddled with the bag some more, brow furrowing in concentration. “You know, I found an old edition of <em>Un Bleu</em> in Gabriel’s library.The one with the negligee shoot.Do you remember that?When I get home, I’m going to get high and fully enjoy how delicious you were back then.” She hung the bag and turned to the bed with a smile on her face.“Goodbye, sleeping beauty!”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">And then Lila Rossi’s footsteps receded down the hall, leaving only the faintest trace of Gabriel No. 3 in her wake.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Rules for those left to die</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A test that Nathalie has only one chance to pass.</p><p>TW: A continuation of the assault, violence of the preceding chapter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">There are rules when you’ve been left to die. </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">The first and most important rule of all is to wait, to make you sure that you really have been left.Because if they come back, you’ve lost your chance.If you could call for help or fight them off , you wouldn’t have been left to die in the first place.No, you’ve already lost the fight.You already know that you are too isolated and too weak.But if they leave you to die, it also means that you aren’t dead yet.You still have a chance, not to fight them but to try to stay alive.So you wait until they are fully gone, and then you find a way to stay alive.That is the second rule, and it is also the most important rule of all: stay alive. And if someone tries to tell you that there cannot be two rules that are the most important rule of all, then I promise you that they’ve never been left to die, and they don’t really know what they are talking about.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Waiting seems so simple.One merely does nothing.But for Nathalie, waiting was torture.The echo of each receding step meant a droplet falling from the IV bag to the drip chamber, and then the inevitable run down the tube.She listened as closely as she could.The steps were still receding, right?Lila wouldn’t risk being caught by turning back, would she? And as Nathalie listened, she counted.<em>8 seconds, 9 seconds, 10 seconds…</em>. Until she could wait no more and detached the line from the cannula. </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>I fucking hate this.</em>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Nathalie got out of bed and walked to the closet.She wasn’t strong enough to run, but running wouldn’t get her out of the hospital anyway.She needed to keep moving and avoid attention.She wasn’t entirely sure how she would manage either.She thanked whichever gods were still looking after her that she’d come to hospital under her own power instead of by ambulance.That meant that she had a sweater and slacks and shoes.She dressed as quickly as she could. Maybe there were still gods looking out for her, or maybe it was just luck, butshe heard the nurses respond to an alert from another room. </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>Pull it together. Just like you are walking into the boardroom for a presentation.</em>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Nathalie steeled her spine and walked down the hallway to the elevators,struggling to hold her posture together until the doors finally whispered shut. She slumped against the wall on shaking legs.Six floors to garage level. Five. Four. Three.Almost out.Almost free. And now Nathalie faced a decision.She couldn’t go home, because her home had been Agreste Manor for many years.She wouldn’t flee to Adrien’s apartment, wouldn’t expose him to the danger she now faced.She could try Emilie’s old rooms in the theatre district, but she had never been sure if Gabriel had arranged for those rooms to be watched.She sighed.When did Gabriel become a problem?They’d been a team for many years.<em>Team Emilie.</em> Nathalie shivered in the cold night air, her illusions tumbling through the mist. </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>Shit.</em>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">And so it was that she broke a promise that she had made to herself years before and slowly worked her way from the hospital, block by block, to the Goutte d’Or and the last remaining shard of her long broken heart.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. No small victories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alya and Sabrina scramble to shore.</p><p>TW: various shades of abuse and manipulation.  Smoking, addictions of various sorts, and recovery.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Sabrina blew out a long stream of cigarette smoke and slumped back in her chair, tilting her head back to catch the sun's warmth on her face. That alone justified this outing.She sipped her coffee without opening her eyes and took another hit of cigarette smoke.The faint crackle of burning tobacco reduced the worked to something warm and pleasantly bitter. </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Someone sat next to her, and she sensed who it was without opening her eyes.She knew that scent, that faint mix of rose and green tea, and the sound of hands aggressively rummaging through a backpack.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I’ve been wondering for years.Do you even have a lighter in that bag?”Sabrina opened her eyes, pulling a well-worn zippo from her pocket and sparking it to flame.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya lit her cigarette and took a long drag before glaring at Sabrina.“Don’t even right now.I’m not even sure that I’m speaking to you.Do you know how worried I’ve been?The last time I saw you, I was so scared, and then you just disappear for a month.How can you do that?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I’m sorry.”Sabrina stared down at her coffee.“I just had to get out.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I get it.Trust me, I get it.I was afraid I’d be calling an ambulance that night.”Alya sighed.“You are so fucking pale.Are you OK?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina turned her head and looked up at Alya.“I don’t know.This is kind of my first time out of the house in a while.I kicked.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“You haven’t been alone this whole time, have you?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Not entirely.My therapist helped me.Got me stuff, so withdrawal wasn’t so horrible.I checked in with her a lot.She didn’t like how I wanted to do this, but she met me halfway.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I didn’t actually know you had been using that much.I just thought it was something she made you do when we got together.How the hell did I not know you had a problem?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I tried to keep it a secret, you know?But I’ve been using daily for the past 12 months.Almost exactly.And Lila never made me do anything.The fun part for her, I think, was hearing me say “yes” to things outside my comfort zone.I was just what she needed, a girl with no boundaries.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Shit.I’m worried now that this has been horrible for you all this time, and I didn’t do anything.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina cocked an eyebrow.“It wasn’t exactly horrible.You were right there, Alya.Did it seem like I was faking?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya blushed.“No.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“The whole thing was complicated, and, yeah, bad for me.But I did consent.And, for the record, I never faked a thing.”Sabrina thought quietly for a moment.“Did it turn you on?Watching what she did to me?Seeing me bound?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya leaned back and stared down the length of the street.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Never mind.Shitty question.None of my business.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“No,” said Alya, “it's fair.As you said, I was there.It’s just complex.I mean, it was visually striking.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Yeah.Kinbaku is supposed to be.I don’t know how Lila learned.Honestly, she was probably usingme to learn, but who knows anything with that girl.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“And what about you?Is that what you like?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I don’t know, Alya,” Sabrina said.“At the time, I was high.And now that whole part of me is shut down, so it is hard to know what I'd want.God, would it suck if my body never wakes up again.Never been in love and already burned out.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“How did you two even wind up doing that?I just remember arriving at your place, and there you two were.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I’m not sure. It wasn’t like I had any experience at all.There were just some shiny things that I knew I someday wanted to explore.The first time I did cosplay, I knew I liked it.I mean, not just liked it but got a little kick.I think roleplay gave me a more structured sense of who I was and how I should behave.I felt more three dimensional.It was the first time I felt sexy.And, god, the costumes Chloe had were so thin and tight.They hid nothing.”Sabrina paused to smoke.“I liked that a lot.I liked her eyes on my body.And, somehow, Lila figured all of these things out about me.Then she just started pushing me a bit further past where I was comfortable.By the way, Alya, I did notice that you never answered my question.You really don’t need to answer it because it was a crap thing to ask you, but I don’t want you to think that you are getting away with something.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Yeah.I— I don’t think I could ever do that?Maybe if my partner really enjoyed it, I could do it for them.But I don’t think I’d get turned on tying someone.Or the rest.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“It’s called ‘flogging.’”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I know.”Alya shook out a new cigarette and offered it to Sabrina.“Should I not be offering you smokes?The glare you gave that cigarette almost lit it before it got to your lighter.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I hate smoking.But it is fine for now.I think I’ve had all of the withdrawal that I can handle for a while.But my therapist had me mark a goal to stop on my calendar.I guessso that I don’t let it slide entirely.” </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya nodded.“So to answer your question.Yes, it turned me on, but I’m not sure that I’m confortable with that.Mostly, I liked how turned on you were.And how you’d look at me.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina blushed.“I didn’t know you had noticed that.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya laughed.“It was like a punch in my chest every time.I felt all of your pent up energy. And, too, knowing that you were about to come undone.You never looked at me unless you were close.And that was always intense.I don’t know how much you remember about the last night we were all together—”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I remember.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I wasn’t sure you would.It seemed like you were barely there.What the hell happened anyway?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Lila shot me up before you got there.I really hate needles, and I always tried to not get too high.But sometimes, Lila would make it a thing.And she’d shoot me up.And I always wound up too high.That night, I think she scared herself a bit.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I didn’t know.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“We usually took care ofthe scary shit before you showed up.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“That much I had figured out.So, yeah.That night—”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I touched you.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“You did.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do.It just bothered me that you were always on the sidelines.I’d be half passed out on the bed, you’d take care of Lila, then she’d leave, and by the time I had caught my breath, you’d be leaving too.Did she ever take care of you, Alya?Or was she just, like, pillow empress?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya sighed.“Usually not.I mean, that wasn’t the pattern.But once in a while, she’d do this thing where she’d get this super-focused look to her like she was going to give me a night of the best sex I’d ever had.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina cocked an eyebrow.“Did she?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya’s frown deepened.“‘Yes.I mean, you more than anyone should know what she is capable of.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina shook her head.“It was really never about that.And, seriously, a person could fuck me way, way more comprehensively with no gear and much less effort if what they wanted was to please me.She just wanted to hear me say “yes” to something past my comfort zone.And then she wanted to see if I’d still cum.If she peaked at all, it was when I’d say "OK."Everything after that was more like solving a puzzle.I mean, you’d know.You were the one on your knees after.Did she ever seem especially turned on?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Now that you mention it, no.”Alya thought for a bit.“There were a few times when I remember her being really turned on.But—yeah.”Alya looked at Sabrina.“I wish we had talked about this years ago.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“It would have probably been too late for me, but yeah.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“It would have been too late for me too.I mean— I think she hooked into me the same way that she hooked into you.Maybe just a different kind of hook. She seemed so sad and scared and bullied.I got so mad about that.I wanted to protect her.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“And she had you.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“And she had me.Pretty soon it was that she was so unattractive, and of course, no one thought she was pretty or would want to be with her.”Alya took a deep lungful of smoke.“We were behind the school after everyone had gone home.She was crying.And suddenly I’m kissing her.I absolutely made the move.It never really even occurred to me that we might date or anything. And she was always so thankful, but in a way that made it clear that I was just the best, most supportive friend.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I can see it, though.You must have been pretty raw yourself after you and Nino broke up.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya grimaced.“This was before that.I think she liked that fact.I mean, when I think about the times that she was super turned on, the first times that I touched her were really high on the list.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina brushed a tear from Alya’s cheek with her thumb.“You don’t need to talk about this, Alya.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“No, it’s ok.It is just all so humiliating.I thought my moral compass was screwed on straight, you know.I’m not supposed to be a cheater.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Is that why you guys broke up?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“No.Nino never knew.Or at least I don’t think he knew.I think that it was more that I was a pretty shitty girlfriend to him.I bossed him around a lot.It was screwing up his creativity.And he was angry about Marinette.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Yeah.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“He just started doing his own thing.I don’t know.It was fine.I knew that I was acting like a shitty girlfriend.The cheating made it all worse, though.Having to avoid him because I’d just been with her.Gah!What was I even doing?How did I let myself be played like that?”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Look, Alya, Lila Rossi is a pro.She’s a fucking savant.You can’t expect your teenage self to have handled her crap any more than you could imagine yourself dancing better than Chloe.And I’m not saying that you are a bad dancer.I love clubbing with you.But there are a handful of dancers in Paris that could hold their own with her on stage.Maybe a handful.There are fights that you just cannot expect to win.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I just charged in on my fucking white horse—“</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“OK, this is going to sound shitty, but hear me out.I love your white horse.I do.You want to make the world a better place, and I like that about you.But it’s a lot, you know.A lot that could bite you.Maybe this is just one of those brutal lessons that would have been waiting out there for you no matter what you did.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Maybe?I mean, it didn’t feel like a lesson.I could feel that things were really unbalanced, but it was like I was stuck on train tracks.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“I might know a few things about that."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya ground out her cigarette."I guess you would.So, seriously, what's your plan now?Are you OK alone at your house?"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"I think so.It feels a little gross there right now, honestly.I had a few disgusting moments recently.But money is tight, especially after how much money went up my nose over the past year.And when my father took the job in Nice, I promised I'd look after the house, so there isn't really a plan B."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Would it help if you weren't alone?"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Their eyes locked."Alya, you know nothing can happen, right?Everything is kind of switched off, and I don't know if that is going to change. I mean, I don't want to presume, but--"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"I know,"Alya said quickly. "Seriously, I know.But what about hugs?"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina smiled faintly."I could use some hugs.But, look, if you want to hang out with me, I need to know you get this:if I start using again, it is not on you, and it isn't your job to fix me.I really cannot have you burning your life down if I start using again."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"I understand.I promise that I understand."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Do you?Because the statistics are not in my favor here.And however much I do not want to touch that stuff ever again, you could easily walk in the door tomorrow and find me high."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"I fucking hate this.But I know you are trying to look out for me, and I appreciate that.So, yes, I really do understand."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"OK.Deal me in.If you want, I can help you shift some of your things over to the house."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"That sounds great.It is going to have to be a bit later today, though.I told Nora that I'd stop by the gym.I guess I could text her and say that I have other plans."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"What's going on at the gym?I thought you were emphatically not a gym person."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Yeah, well, I'm struggling a bit with what I see in the mirror."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Alya, I've seen everything that the mirror sees, and you are as beautiful as that first day at CFD."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Right now, that makes me wonder if that is just one other thing that I've been kidding myself about for a lot of years."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Come on, Alya. I remember that first day vividly."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"So do I.Gum on Marinette's chair.Seriously?"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina tossed back her head and laughed."That was Chloe.To this day, I don't know what her problem with Marinette was.But yes, there was gum on the chair.And a confrontation with Marinette and the new girl.I remember being pissed at you for taking her side, but I also remember feeling this pull.I'd never felt that before and it bothered me that you could shake me up that way."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Seriously?You are pal-ing around with Chloe Bourgeois, who might be a cold-hearted bitch but who was undeniable gorgeous, and you were looking at me?"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"I've always been looking at you, Alya.Call it a guilty pleasure."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"I seriously thought you were with Chloe back then."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"No.I mean, there were probably a few times when I crushed on her.But it always felt as though her heart was not available."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Adrien?"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina laughed."God, no.Definitely not Adrien.She's his protective big sister, but that is it.Honestly, I never know who, but she was stuck on someone.I think it pissed her off.I mean, that would be the classic Chloe move, right?"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Because her heart is encased in ice."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina laughed again."Her heart is fine.Battered, but fine."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"I never quite got how she and Marinette wound up being a united front."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"I never quite got how Marinette went from being sweet and pretty to a steaming hot goth overnight.But Chloe and Marinette?Yeah, the'd chip away at each other, but Chloe's not the sort of person who will let someone harm someone who matters to her.And Marinette was one of the only people around who could challenge Chloe to be more.I wish that could have been me, but I was too much of a mess.Hell, Chloe and I were too much of a mess."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"At first, I just saw you as an extension of Chloe."Alya shook her head."Do I have even the first drop of objective, hard-nosed reporter in me?"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"You have plenty, Alya."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"It wasn't really until we started hanging out with Lila."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Let me guess.Hanging around forever, waiting for her."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Exactly!Hanging at cafes, waiting for Lila.That was when I learned how funny you are.Smart.Pretty."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina smiled."You thought I was pretty?"</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"Until we were 17.I don't know what happened that year, but then I thought you were hot."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Sabrina laughed."I had given up on getting my mom's body.I didn't think anyone else really noticed."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Alya smiled."I noticed.I guess I should just say this in case it is a deal-breaker, but here's the thing.You wanted to know what turns me on, and the thing that matters is you."</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">"That isn't a deal-breaker, Alya," Sabrina said."That isn't a deal-breaker at all."</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The trap is sprung</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kagami is having a very bad day.  Maybe the sight of Mayura standing alone on a rooftop will make all the difference?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Kagami slowed to a civilized pace and entered the cafe.She scanned the room, but there was no sign of Chloe, which was odd because Kagami knew she had arrived well after their meeting time. </p><p class="p1"><em>What the hell?</em> </p><p class="p1">It had been that kind of day from the begging.A slept-through the alarm day.A coffee-stained shirt day.A put down the saber and leave the salle forever day.Kagami checked her phone.Ah.There it was.An 0800 text from Chloe saying that she had to cancel lunch.Kagami had missed it because she was too busy knocking over coffee cups and trying but failing to make it to her appointments on time.A shitty day all the way around.</p><p class="p1">She greeted the waiter, took her table, and ordered <em>plats du jour</em>.Her day was a wreck, but perhaps a nice lunch would turn things around.If nothing else, it gave her time to think about how her day had gone so wholly wrong.She traced back every frustration, every annoyance, every failure, and then she did it again, each time reaching the same conclusion.Waking up without Ondine in her arms was not acceptable.She missed her warmth and her broad sleep smile.She missed the kisses.She missed the sex.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>I've been spoiled these past few weeks.</em>
</p><p class="p1">Kagami bit her lip, trying to hold at bay the train of thought of how she had been spoiled, of what it meant to be spoiled in that way.The problem with lip biting is that it never works the way a person might think it will work.You hold your true feelings in the most secret place in your heart, biting your lip to seal in a panicked confession, only to find yourself kissed.This is chapter 1, page 1 material in the Almanac of Lovers' Tells.Lip biting to halt a thought?Not a jot more effective, which was why Kagami found herself semi-frozen, her fork suspended halfway between plate and perfectly painted lips.</p><p class="p1">(Take a deep breath, dear reader; Kagami's thoughts are racing.)</p><p class="p1">
  <em>I need to tell Mother.I wonder if she knows?She must know.She knows everything.But she hasn't said anything.Maybe she doesn't know.No. She knows.Is she just OK with this?Does she think that it is too meaningless to mention?A fling?Is she respecting my discretion?I really haven't been discrete.I just want Ondine to myself for a while. The rest of the world can wait. Shit.I need to buy something nice for Marinette and Chloe.Double shit.What is Mother going to do on Friday when I walk that red-carpet with Ondine on my arm?I need to talk to Mother before then.Triple shit.I need to bring Ondine home to meet Mother, don't I?</em>
</p><p class="p1">The rapid-fire stream of thoughts and sadly stalled fork were both disturbed by the sound of breaking glass and a cloud of plaster.Kagami peered up from the floor and surveyed the ruined cafe as the Akuma siren went off.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Could this day suck more?</em>
</p><p class="p1">Kagami picked her way through the broken tables until she was outside.She checked her phone to see what the city was up against.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"This is Nadja Chamak, coming to you live from a Paris under siege yet again.With me is Pierre Dufoy.Pierre, what can you tell me about this Akuma?"</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Yes, that is my colleague, Thomas Leclerc, flying around up there.Marvelous, right?"</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Mr. Dufoy, he is destroying the city!"</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Of course, of course, but can you blame him?He came to work, like always.And what does he find?Some fool had loaded the toilet paper upside down so that the end fell under the roll."</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>"Wait, Mr. Dufoy, are you telling me this is all about toilet paper?"</em>
</p><p class="p1">Kagami killed the feed and mumbled something that sounded a lot like "Hawkmoth, your name is ZIRPI."</p><p class="p1">She heard a roar and scanned the sky.There, hovering over the city, was an odd looking Akuma riding a strange white chariot and pointing what looked like a small cardboard roll.</p><p class="p1">"PARIS!I AM ROLLMAN WARRIOR.BRING ME LADYBUG AND CAT NOIR'S MIRACULOUSES, OR SUFFER MY &lt;glumph&gt;."</p><p class="p1">The speech ended abruptly as Cat Noir vaulted through the air and hit Rollman Warrior in the mouth with a plunger.However, his victory was short lived, as the Akuma opened the throttle on his chariot and raced across the sky with Chat Noir holding on for dear life.</p><p class="p1">Kagami's shoulders sagged.<em>Where is Ladybug?Can we just have a tiny bit of adult supervision here?</em>She scanned the skyline again, hunting for the battle.It was then that she noticed an isolated figure standing on a rooftop nearby.<em>Mayura?!</em>And it clearly was.Kagami looked around frantically.Was Chloe anywhere nearby?Was Hawkmoth?But all she saw was Mayura, alone on the roof.</p><p class="p1">It is easy to plan a trap.It isn't always quite to easy to spring it.Ladybug had been clear.There might only be one shot.And it really looked like this could be it.Mayura was alone, unsuspecting, vulnerable.But this was also supposed to be a two-woman job, and there was no sign of Chloe. </p><p class="p1">In the end, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.Kagami stepped into a half-destroyed alley, quickly transformed:"Bring the storm!"She checked the roofline and considered striking from where she stood.But what if the bolt of lightning missed?Too risky.She had to get close enough to take Mayura down and retrieve her miraculous. </p><p class="p1">Kagami raced down the street and started scaling the outside of the building.Halfway up, a swarm of ladybugs swept by, restoring the broken city around her.Kagami climbed faster, flipped on to the rooftop.Mayura stood facing away from her, unsuspecting.That was all Kagami needed.She drew her sword and raced toward Mayura.It was only at the last moment that she caught the glint of sunlight on metal over Mayura's shoulder and brought her sword up to parry.Sparks flew as Mayura's fan raked across the blade right at Kagami's eye line. </p><p class="p1">As the fan completed its arc, Kagami moved to take advantage of her opportunity.Mayura was wide open to attack.Kagami just needed to extend her sword and slash downward.But she was never able to launch her attack because, at that very moment, she felt a heavy blow strike the back of her weighted knee, driving her to the ground.She turned her head as she fell and saw Hawkmoth raising his cane while simultaneously stomping on the side of her already wounded knee.She heard a crunch and felt a sharp pinch in her stomach.</p><p class="p1">"Such a pleasure to see you again, Miss Tsurugi.I'm afraid I must claim your miraculous if only in the name of your own health."Hawkmoth grasped the head of his cane and raised it over his head, preparing to skewer Kagami as she lay crumpled on the roof."</p><p class="p1">"Sir!" shouted Mayura, pointing behind him.</p><p class="p1">Hawkmoth glanced over his shoulder."We must leave. Now.We'll resume our discussion another time, Miss Tsurugi." And at that, Hawkmoth and Mayura slipped over the side of the room and disappeared. Scant few seconds later, Chat Noir and Ladybug landed next to Kagami.</p><p class="p1">"Chat, can you get Ryuko to safety?My transformation is about to drop!"</p><p class="p1">Chat said something, Kagami was sure of it, but the afternoon dimmed around her and then darkened entirely as she crashed out of her transformation.</p><p class="p2"> </p>
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